She sat up, propping herself on one arm while
the other hand wiped inefficiently at the perspiration on her face. Hot was not
the word. Hellfire furnace. Yes, that said it better. A stiff breeze sprang up,
but just made unbearable conditions worse. A devil’s wind, his fiery breath. She
rose lethargically to move into the shadow of one of the rock pillars stationed
at the very edge of the plateau, dragging her water bottle into the shade with
her.
Strange how the ancient sentinels remained, she
mused, teetering on the brink of not only the plateau, but collapse, never
quite reaching that point. How old were they- a billion years? Whoever
fashioned them knew the art of building, for they were truly ancient. All signs
of other structures had been scoured into obscurity by the devil winds and
baked to blackened pebbles by the harsh sun. The pillars were a mute testament
and perhaps that was why they held on. When they finally toppled there would be
no more evidence.
She waited for the sun to arc its way behind
the mountains at her back, not really thinking anything, just waiting. With the
sun blocked by the incredible megaliths she would move about more easily.
Hopefully. It would still be hot, but her skin would not blister upon the sun’s
penetrating touch.
She no longer questioned the incessant
prompting that drove her to this long dead world and no longer fought it. It
would not help, she was here, and it was too damn hot to reflect too much. At
first she thought it was due to her recent accomplishments on other sterile
planets, renewals well done, but then knew it had to be something else. Her
calling as Lady of Life had been passed to another and while that was not so
long back, the promptings only began after.
Walker of Realms
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